Improvement



PATENT Fries.,

NATHAN P. STEVENS, OF KEENE, NEW' HAMPSHIRE.

IMPROVEMENT in BRAKE-HEADS FOR RAILROAD-CARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 23,722; dated April 19, 1859.

T0 all whom 'it muy conce/w:

Bc it known that l, NATHAN l. STEVENS, of Keene, in the coiiiity oi Cheshire and State of New Hampshire, have. invented a new and useful'improvement in lralie-lleads for Railreati-Chus; and l do hereby declare that the 'oiloning is a full, ciear, and exact descrip# tion of the saine, reference being had tothe accoinpanyiupl drawings, making part of this specification. y

Figure l is an elevation ot' the improved brake-head. Fig'. is a vertical section through the saine. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the same. Fig. -i is a transverse elevation of the same.

Similar letters in the figures refer to con.

responding parts. i

This invention consists in connecting the brake-heads to the horizontal brakebeain by journals and boxes, so as tb 'enable thein to have an oscillating movement to adapt their detachable shoes to l he periphery of the Wheels ofthe car, and in attaching to the said journals and boxes certain caps and springs for giving any desired inclination to the brakeheads in relation to theperipheries of the wheels, so as to enable a greater pressure to be exerted by the lower portions of the shoes than by their opposite parts, and to prevent the heads from oscillating on their journals beyond a. certain distance. A

To enable others skilled in the art lo make and use my invention, I will proceed to de scribe its construction and opera-tion.

The horizontal beam A is suspended by the usual upright hanging rods B transversely in front of or behind the wheels ot' the car, and the ends of this beam have tenons formed -on them, which fit in corresponding openings in'the center of metal sleeves C, which are slipped and secured on said tenoned ends so as to forni journals. These journals pass through corresponding boxes forr'ned in the brake-heads D, midway between their upper and lower ends, which brake-heads have depressions or sockets formed in their sebinent-of-a-circle-formed surfaces next the carwheels, in whichare secured by screws segmental shoes E, of metal, wood, or other suitable material, corresponding on their outer surface with the peripheries ofthe car-wheel. 0n the peripheries of the journal-sleeves (l are formed cog-s or protuherances'h, which enter segmental grooves formed around the inner peripheries'of the caps of the brakehead boxes, in the loiver end ol` each of which is inserted a strip of vulcanized india-rubber G, exactly filling it flush with the journals,

which-bears against it, so as to enable the india-rubber to yield to the pressure of the cog or protuberance F when the brake-head shoe E is pressed upon the wheel. This cog or protuberanceF, moreover, serves to retain the brake-head D in a certain position in relation to the wheel when withdrawn therefrom. The india-rubber strip G may be increased or diminished in Alength to enable the brake-head shoe E to be brought in contact with the wheel4 at any inclination or slant in relation to the same that may be desired. i

The operation of these improved brake'- heads D is simple and eective'.' When the shoes E on their segmental surfaces are pressed 'against the Wheels, their corresponding circling surfaces at once adapt themselves to their peripheries through the journals C at the ends of the transverse brakebeam A,vand no matter how unevenly they may have been worn there cannot be any torsion or strain on the transverse beam, as is the case when the brake-heads are fixed permanently to the ends 'of the same. In the event of one portion of either of the shoes E wearing out before the other they may be detached from the brake-head D and again attached with their ends reversed. A

The slightly-increased pressure exerted by the lower portions of the shoes E over the upper portions, through the instrumentality of the cogs or protubeiances F and indiarubber strips G, prevents the said upper portions from being crowded unequally upon the wheels by the increased friction created at these parts.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent. is-

1. Snspending the brake-heads D to the ends of the transverse brake-bar A by the journalskgud boxes, substantially in the manner and-foi' the purpose setforth.

2. Forming eogs Or prot-uberencesfon the peripheries of the journal-sleeves C and interposing strips of rubber G between them and the ends of the grooves in the journalbox cap in which the said cogs Or protuberanees move, for causing 'a grenter'pressnre to be extended on the lower thanon the upper portions Of the shoes E, as described.

NATHAN P. STEVENS. Witnesses:

GEO.y W. PERRY, ADDISON STONE; 

